Thom Hartmann's New Book is Just in Time for the Election

Share Article

Rebooting the American Dream:11 Ways to Rebuild our Country by Thom Hartmann, America's most popular progressive radio host.
Hartmann Hails Hamilton in a fascinating political twist.

"Now is the most important time for us all to be paying attention, to show up, and to wake up our friends, and neighbors. Because this nation is on the edge of a radical restart, a reboot. TAG YOUR IT"
-- Thom Hartmann, Rebooting the American Dream

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB)October 27, 2010

In a fascinating political twist, progressive Thom Hartmann steals a page from the conservative Tea Party in his new book, Rebooting the American Dream (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010). Just as tea partiers hearken to the wisdom of our founders, Hartmann uses Alexander Hamilton's 11- Point Plan for "American Manufactures" as a model for rebooting our economy.

Hartmann, and Hamilton, both believe in essential truths that have endured since the American Revolution:

True prosperity and wealth derives from domestic manufacturing, not services or foreign imports

Fair taxation and tariffs are a necessity for a growing economy, not a barrier. Hartmann flips tea-party rhetoric on its head and proves that Reagan and Bush tax cuts actually grew the size of government. Some of the best growth years in American history came when taxes on the wealthy were at their highest.

Free Trade sounds great until foreign interests own your currency and your financial assets—do everything reasonable to protect American manufacturing and create incentives to support American jobs and industry

Not content to rely only on Hamilton, Hartmann also quotes Jefferson’s ideas for universal, free education as a pillar in a voting democracy, and revisits Jefferson’s model for a citizen’s militia as inspiration to cut military funding and prevent unnecessary wars.

Taking these ideals as a starting point, Hartman attacks a broad range of contemporary issues—health insurance, illegal immigration, foreign policy—and proves it’s not just the tea partiers who have the enduring values and ideas that built our country.

Perhaps most damning, Hartmann condemns an idea that no founding father could ever abide: that corporations are essentially “persons” with the same rights as human beings. Tea partiers seem strangely silent on this key ruling from the Supreme Court, recently affirmed in the Citizens United case.

On issue after issue, Hartmann shows that the way forward is to look back, to tap into the wisdom residing in two and half centuries of American history. As we approach November 2, progressives may have as many ideas from our founding fathers as from the tea partiers—they’ve just made the smarter choices.

AUTHOR BIO:
Thom Hartmann is the nation's #1 progressive radio talk show host (also simulcast as TV in 60 million homes by Dish Network/DirectTV/Free Speech TV), and the New York Times bestselling, 4-times Project Censored winning author of 21 books in print. In its eighth year, THE THOM HARTMANN PROGRAM airs live daily, NOON – 3pm, ET simulcast as both radio and TV on over 120 affiliates, including both nationwide satellite radio stations (Sirius/XM), into more than 50 million homes via both nationwide satellite TV systems (DirecTV and Dish Network), totaling over 120 radio stations and TV cable systems. The program is seen or heard in 7 of the top 10 US markets and 17 of the top 25, as well as in Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom.